Putin orders army drill to test alertness
Source: Agencies |
March 29, 2013, Friday
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PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin ordered the launch of large-scale Russian military exercises in the Black Sea region yesterday, his spokesman said.
Putin issued the order to start the previously unannounced manoeuvres at 4am Moscow time as he flew back from an international summit in South Africa, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"These are large-scale unannounced test exercises," Peskov said, adding that 36 warships and an unspecified number of warplanes would take part. "The main goal is to check the readiness and cohesion of the various units."
He did not say how long the exercises would last. Putin has stressed the importance of a strong and agile military since he returned to the presidency last May after four years as prime minister. In 13 years in power, he has often cited external threats when talking of the need for unity in Russia.
Russia's Black Sea fleet, whose main base is in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, was instrumental in a war with Georgia in 2008 over the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Putin issued the order to start the previously unannounced manoeuvres at 4am Moscow time as he flew back from an international summit in South Africa, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"These are large-scale unannounced test exercises," Peskov said, adding that 36 warships and an unspecified number of warplanes would take part. "The main goal is to check the readiness and cohesion of the various units."
He did not say how long the exercises would last. Putin has stressed the importance of a strong and agile military since he returned to the presidency last May after four years as prime minister. In 13 years in power, he has often cited external threats when talking of the need for unity in Russia.
Russia's Black Sea fleet, whose main base is in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, was instrumental in a war with Georgia in 2008 over the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
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